Fay: A Novel

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Read This Book!

Classic. Southern. Great Dialogue. Inspired.

Fay, the Mermaid of Mississippi

larry brown, fay

A worthy follow-up to "Joe"

Fay: A Novel
Larry Brown
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Joe Joe

Father and Son: Winner of the Southern Book Award

Big Bad Love

Dirty Work

The Rabbit Factory: A Novel

ASIN: 1565121686

Amazon.com

Larry Brown's Fay picks up at the precise moment when its 17-year-old heroine walks out of his 1991 novel Joe. And really, who could blame her? Fay's father, Wade Jones, was one of the most enduring villains in recent fiction, the kind of man who would trade a son for a car and a daughter's virginity for a few $20 bills. Reared in migrant camps, tarpaper shacks, and, most recently, an abandoned cabin, Fay herself is pretty, goodhearted, astonishingly ignorant: in other words, trouble in a too-tight dress and a pair of rotting tennis shoes. Fleeing her father's advances, she takes to the Mississippi road in a passage that, with its rough music, is pure Brown:

She came down out of the hills that were growing black with night, and in the dusty road her feet found small broken stones that made her wince. Alone for the first time in the world and full dark coming quickly. House lights winked through the trees as she walked and swung her purse from her hand. She could hear cars passing down the asphalt but she was still a long way from that.

For the first time, Brown narrates most of a novel from a woman's point of view, and while the result is every bit as gripping as his previous work, it is also more inward-looking. Joe, for instance, reads like something carved out of a block of granite; in Fay, Brown feels somehow closer to the story--almost tender, or as tender as a writer with such an unflinching gaze can be. As Fay hitchhikes her way down Highway 55, from the woods near Oxford to the beaches and strip bars of Biloxi, she draws both men and violence to her like a magnet. Utterly without envy or self-pity, she is a force of nature, pure and simple, and Fay illuminates just how deadly her kind of innocence can be.

It's no value judgment to say this book is about white trash. Brown knows it, the reader knows it, Fay knows it; at one point, she even muses, "She never had been called a white trash piece of shit before but she'd been called white trash." But don't mistake Brown's work for mere trailer-park sociology. Despite the redneck trappings, the Jones family has been with us since the beginning of time, and their story, like all tragedies, is both larger than life and just like it too. "White trash," after all, is just another way of saying "not many choices." In writing about lives stripped down to their essentials, Brown reminds us of the dark truths our choices sometimes allow us to forget. --Mary Park

Book Description

She's had no education, and you can't call what her father's been trying to give her "love." So at seventeen, Fay Jones leaves home, carrying a purse with half a pack of cigarettes and two dollar bills. She's headed for the bright lights and big times of Biloxi, and even she knows she needs help getting there. But help's not hard to come by when you look like Fay.

There's a highway patrolman who gives her a lift, with a detour to his own place. There are truck drivers who pick her up, no questions asked. There's a crop duster with money for a night or two on the town. There's a strip-joint bouncer who deals on the side. And in the end, there are five dead bodies stacked in Fay's wake.

Fay is a novel that could only have been written by Larry Brown, whom the Boston Globe called "one of our finest writers -- honest, courageous, unflinching."

Customer Reviews:

Read This Book!.......2007-08-15

This was an amazing find and I can't believe I hadn't heard of this book sooner. It was so engaging, I couldn't put it down. You quickly got drawn into a world we know so very little about and into Fay's story. I could see this done well as an independent film.

Classic. Southern. Great Dialogue. Inspired. .......2006-01-12

Brown writes dialogue between characters in a way inspired by writers or poets like Robert Burns. It does not make fun of the people that inspire the dialogue, but makes them stand out from the page as real. Flawed persons throughout the novel mixed in with a little heartbreak. Recall the journey in Light in August by William Faulkner. Recall also the dialogue in Faulkner's characters. Brown writes in an area of Mississippi not far from Faulkner and could be seen often walking around the square in Oxford.
Fay is a sympathetic character, and one for which a couple of guys fall for. In some instances she seems callous, and then you might think you understand her. You don't hate her. You can see where she's coming from. And the men that didn't want to take advantage of her wanted to take care of her. It's a sad story, but very reflectic of the short term goals many people have, that is just getting by day by day. It's not glamourous, but is a wonderful story for what it conveys. He's a great Mississippi author. Read also from Big Bad Love, "Kabuki Rides" (a short story in the collection).

Fay, the Mermaid of Mississippi.......2005-12-13

Larry Brown uses clear simple sentences in the vein of Ernest Hemingway ("The Old Man and the Sea") to expound the journey of Fay Jones, a 17-year-old beauty, fleeing the increasingly sexual come-ons of her father, Wade Jones. "Fay" is set in the harsh world of Mississippi where the characters tend to have little education, money or choices. Fay is so desperate to leave her shack and would-be incestuous father, that despite only having two dollars, a half-pack of cigarettes and a pair of ratty tennis sneakers, she begins walking away with only the dim notion of going to Biloxi because it is on the coast and life must be better there.

Fay's one advantage is her beauty, but Brown does not go into detail about her appearance, except to say that her bosom is quite ample. It seems because of her outstanding looks that she is helped several times throughout the novel. At times it seems she is so innocent and would never use her "assets" to her advantage, but then there are several instances where she blatantly takes advantage. Most clear example being is Fay decides after a shower to slip off her towel in front of the recently widowed Sam Harris, the state trooper who picks up Fay on Highway 55. She never ate popcorn, went to a movie or made a telephone call, but she is far from innocent. Already at her young age she has a hankering for beer and cigarettes, and continues her habits even though she becomes pregnant due to Sam's inability to resist Fay's siren call.

Sam and the other man who is her main squeeze in the novel, Aaron, a strip-club bouncer who moonlights as a drug dealer, is also enticed by Fay's song. Perhaps their only chance was to tie themselves to a mast like Ulysses did in Homer's "The Iliad." Nonetheless, Fay, a girl with a woman's body, who left school early and lived in conditions that would be considered more akin to a third-world country can not be wholly to be blamed. For the milieu Fay has been born into and is struggling to survive in would be considered a society of dregs, or better known as white trash since the novel takes place in the American south. One roots for Fay, but there is also a sneaking suspicion in the back of one's mind: nothing good can come out of the gumbo of a mess that these people's lives are. Despite knowing the character's propensities, the ending still felt too neatly tied up and a cheat in some ways. However, an overall astounding look at characters living to just survive, often on a daily basis, by using simple, but beautifully written prose.

Bohdan Kot

larry brown, fay.......2005-08-14

contemporary candide. unusual and gripping story of the underebelly south. larry brown is a superb writer.for any serious reader.

A worthy follow-up to "Joe".......2005-03-23

In the late Larry Brown's fine book "Joe," about a hard drinking and smoking ex-con trying to do right in his bleak Southern world, we were introduced to 15 year old Gary, honest and hard-working, and Gary's impoverished, homeless family. Gary's father Wade was almost a caricature of an evil drunk, who beats his wife and kids when he's not trying to molest one of his daughters, not to mention his thieving, usually from his own family. We are also introduced to Gary's naive but resilient sister Fay, who is the central character in this second part of what Brown intended to be a trilogy.

"Fay" tells of the adventures of a seventeen year old attractive girl, amongst unsavory men (with one important exception) and beaten down women, most of whom are out to take advantage of her. Sometimes Fay herself seems too naive, and sometimes remarkably sophistated given her destitute background. She survives, even while many around her don't.

Unlike "Joe" where Brown keeps us in basically one place, Fay gets around, and, in fact, despite some other reviews, there is more "plot" in this book than in "Joe" (which generally received better reviews). I have to admit that Brown's frequent descriptions of someone lighting a cigarette, or popping open a can of beer, or asking a companion to "fix" a drink, can be quite distracting; however, that being said, the writing is lyrical, and the story, memorable. I suppose that Larry Brown is a matter of taste, but one cannot debate the fact that he is a superior Southern writer with a unique voice. It is unfortunate that he died at the young age of fifty-three, before he could complete the trilogy (perhaps the third book would have been entitled "Gary").

Average customer rating:

hilarious
A perfect book
Fun Read
Fannie Flagg and the Miracle Man
What a story

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man: A Novel
Fannie Flagg
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0345485602
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Book Description

In Fannie Flagg’s high-spirited first novel, we meet Daisy Fay Harper in the spring of 1952, where she’s “not doing much except sitting around waiting for the sixth grade.” When she leaves Shell Beach, Mississippi, in September 1959, she is packed up and ready for the Miss America Pageant, vowing “I won’t come back until I’m somebody.” But in our hearts she already is.

Sassy and irreverent from the get-go, Daisy Fay takes us on a rollicking journey through her formative years on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. There, at The End of the Road of the South, the family malt shop freezer holds unspeakable things, society maven Mrs. Dot hosts Junior Debutante meetings and shares inspired thoughts for the week (such as “sincerity is as valuable as radium”), and Daisy Fay’s Daddy hatches a quick-cash scheme that involves resurrecting his daughter from the dead in a carefully orchestrated miracle. Along the way, Daisy Fay does a lot of growing up, emerging as one of the most hilarious, appealing, and prized characters in modern fiction.

Customer Reviews:

hilarious.......2007-10-10

I love Fannie Flagg's books, this book I found to be very funny, everyone I lent it too also thought it was funny. Enjoy

A perfect book.......2007-09-08

I just recently discovered Fannie Flagg and have been reading any book by this wonderful author that I can find. This is a warm, funny and wonderful novel about a young girl growing up in a very interesting enviroment. It had just enough mystery to keep me turning the pages (I love a good mystery) but was a good book to read before bed--some of those terror mysteries make it a little too hard to turn off the light.
I really enjoyed this novel--it is staying in my bookcase for a second read.

Fun Read.......2007-07-09

This book is interesting and full of fun. I laughed a lot reading this book.

Fannie Flagg and the Miracle Man.......2007-06-08

This book is one of my favorites. I adore the way Fannie Flagg greets you and warmly invites you right into the family. It's like a whole different world where you feel so welcome and so familiar. This particular book has wonderful sentiment and a charming sense of humor that only Fannie Flagg could create.

What a story .......2007-03-11

I love Daisy Fay. She made me laugh, she made me cry and then I was done with the book. I have to tell you this book was referred to me by a true southern lady named Melba and I will be forever indebted to her. When I finished the book I felt as though my best friend left and I was never to see her again. I will read Daisy Fay again and again. Fannie Flagg is now one of my favorite authors and I will look forward to all her future book. KEEP THEM COMING FANNIE. I AM A TRUE FAN!

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Fay Weldon's Fiction
Finuala Dowling
Manufacturer: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0838637507

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Fay Weldon's Wicked Fictions

Manufacturer: UPNE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Missing Persons: A Writer's Guide to Finding the Lost, the Abducted and the Escaped (Howdunit Series)

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not bad
essential resource for the mystery writer
Missing Persons Reference or a Way to Get Away?
Informative, thorough, and great fun
Watch out for the Rat Dog

Missing Persons: A Writer's Guide to Finding the Lost, the Abducted and the Escaped (Howdunit Series)
Fay Faron
Manufacturer: Writer's Digest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 089879790X

Amazon.com

Fay Faron first discovered her proclivity for detective work when the houseboat she'd just bought sank in Sausalito's Richardson Bay and it behooved her to track down the boat's elusive previous resident. She is the founder of the Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency (seriously!) in San Francisco, and a regular guest on Oprah!. She has written an informative, entertaining, nay, hilarious guide for anyone writing about detectives and missing persons (MPs). Missing Persons tells us who is most likely to become a private investigator (PI), who is likely to go missing (or merely misplaced), and who would want to find them (hint: "the working PI's motto often is 'The client is not always right and often is not even sane.'"). We learn how and why people hide their whereabouts, and how to go about locating them. While 95 percent of a PI's work is done sitting at a desk, says Faron, "sooner or later your detective has to actually get off his duff and go out into the real world and burn up some calories." This is called "gumshoeing," and includes such scintillating activities as surveillance ("newspaper reading, coffee drinking and bladder rending") and dumpster-diving ("although I'd sooner admit to wearing Tan- In-A-Bottle to my high school reunion, I will concede there are lots of treasures to be found in day-to-day debris"). The appendices list PI licensing requirements by state and state laws regarding taping telephone conversations and such, so you don't make a fool of yourself. Faron works in fabulous, unbelievable examples from her 15 years in the business and lines such as this, about one MP who was discovered to be alive, not dead: "Dr. Mort had not, in fact, taken a dirt nap."

Customer Reviews:

not bad.......2007-06-18

Only wish the author would stop trying to be clever all the time.

People who think they are witty, (very often) are not.
However, book contains info Private Eye writers can use.

essential resource for the mystery writer.......2001-08-13

If you plan on constructing a plot for your novel that centers around finding a missing individual, then this book offers in-depth explanations of the people involved in conducting searches. It's convenient to possess this information in one book that is informative.

Missing Persons Reference or a Way to Get Away?.......2001-01-06

It's supposed to be a reference to find the lost, abducted and escaped. But the tips could help you become a missing person!

Some of the most interesting sections include:

"How People Purposely Hide Their Whereabouts"

"The Four-Step Formula for Finding Someone"

"Profile of the Lost Family Member"

There's so much more to this book than you can imagine. You're sure to find it a nice collection to your reference library.

Informative, thorough, and great fun.......2000-10-11

This is one of the highlights of the "Howdunit" series: it's not only informative and thorough, but it's great fun to read too. Besides being an experienced and successful PI, Faron is a lively writer who knows how to choose an anecdote to make a point, so the book is engrossing as well as useful. She clearly knows the business inside and out, so she covers aspects of the subject that most of us don't know exist, and her remarks on the seamier sides of the PI's job are priceless. She occasionally seems to remember that she's writing a book for mystery authors, and tosses in a few suggestions for plots or episodes that I found rather pointless, but these don't detract from the general helpfulness of the book. Her more "reference"-oriented final chapters are less entertaining, but I greatly appreciated her summaries of what kind of information is available from a particular source and how easily accessed it is: many books that purport to give information on how to find people are just unselective lists of sources without commentary. And her state-by-state breakdown of PI licensing laws and legal information was great: I'm working on a couple of mysteries set in the state where I used to live, and her guidance was very helpful. I hope Faron keeps the book updated: the Internet has transformed searching (for people or information), and some of her suggestions are already out of date. But, as a whole, this book is a terrific "checklist" of how and why people go missing and how to look for them, and well worth reading.

Watch out for the Rat Dog.......2000-07-31

Faron strikes again in the Missing Persons volume of the Howdunit series. Faron's advice on tracking people down was extremely helpful to me, both as an aspiring writer and a police officer (Faron gives tips on locating the hidden that they definitely don't teach you at the Academy...simple, easily-overlooked stuff that involves very little research). Faron's laid-back writing style and personal anecdotes make this an entertaining, as well as informative, read.

Fighting Windmills: Encounters with Don Quixote

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Don Quixote's significance
What a treat!
¡Estupendo!
I loved it!
Fighting Windmills - the ultimate gift for the thought-prone

Fighting Windmills: Encounters with Don Quixote
Manuel Duran , and Fay R Rogg
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Shakespeare the Thinker

ASIN: 0300110227

Book Description

Cervantes’ Don Quixote is the most widely read masterpiece in world literature, as appealing to readers today as four hundred years ago. In Fighting Windmills Manuel Durán and Fay R. Rogg offer a beautifully written excursion into Cervantes’ great novel and trace its impact on writers and thinkers across centuries and continents.
How did Cervantes write such a rich tale? Durán and Rogg explore the details of Cervantes’ life, the techniques with which he constructed the novel, and the central themes of the adventures of Don Quixote and his earthy squire Sancho Panza. The authors then provide an insightful, panoramic view of Cervantes’ powerful influence on generations of writers as diverse as Descartes, Voltaire, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Twain, and Borges.

Customer Reviews:

Don Quixote's significance.......2007-09-10

This is a wonderful commentary on Don Quixote. The authors provide a historical context in relation to other contemporary works (e.g. Montaigne's Essays, Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel), the literary genres that were popular (pastoral and picaresque works) and Cervantes' life. The authors discuss the many layers of complexity of DQ and how/why it was ahead of its time. Fighting Windmills (I love the title) touches on major aspects of DQ, for example the interactions between DQ and Sancho, the complexity of Dulcinea's character, the contrast between Dulcinea and Teresa Panza, the fact that the characters change over time, etc., The later chapters mention how DQ has influenced other works of literature over time. Fighting Windmills deals with plenty of material in a clear, concise way at a fast pace. This the way literary criticism should be: interesting, informative, accessible and profound. The authors clearly made an effort to enlighten the reader, to make him/her go and read DQ. No boring or obscure prose here. What an example to other literay critics!! Last, but not least, it has a beautiful jacket illustration that is a joy to look at. Great work! Fighting Windmills should be made into a nicer edition with better quality paper.

What a treat!.......2007-04-10

Not only is Fighting Windmills a great story about a great story, but it is a pleasant and enlightening journey down literature lane with Don Quixote and his faithful sidekick.

¡Estupendo!.......2007-03-17

When writing about Cervantes most writers fall into one of these categories: either too scholarly or too populist. I found "Fighting Windmills" to balance these tendencies to perfection, making a thoroughly researched book easily accessible to the lay reader. One of the most interesting points is that the authors cover not only Cervantes and Don Quixote in their epoch, but their influence in the Western Civilization through the ages. Most pleasant reading, even for a Spaniard.

I loved it!.......2006-12-25

Just finished reading Fighting Windmills and enjoyed so much learning about the life and times of Cervantes and his influence on the modern novel. It is an easy read for the literary novice, while at the same time, it provides many thought provoking ideas for literature buffs.

Fighting Windmills - the ultimate gift for the thought-prone.......2006-12-06

For those with literary inclinations though unfamiliar with Cervantes and his "Don Quixote", reading "Fighting Windmills," by Fay Rogg and Manuel Duran, is a most worthwhile endeavor. Even those who have read or studied "Don Quixote" will benefit from this unique piece of literary criticism. What the Rogg/Duran work wroughts in an engaging fashion are an encapuled view of the journey taken, a penetrating analysis of the two main travelers - the glorious Knight errant and his faithful companion,
Sancho - and their interaction.

At the onset we learn about Cervantes himself, his life experiences and their effect on the novel he creates. Then the body of his creation is delineated in detail and dissected by skillful surgeons, stressing its unprecedented departure from the prior art.

Finally, the stage is set for the climax - the pervasive impact of "Don Quixote" on the development of western literature. Like a heavenly body that zooms through earth's upper atmosphere once every 500 years, Cervantes' book, as the first truly modern novel, becomes the guiding light for many famous authors who follow in his orbit. From Voltaire to Melville, from Flaubert to Twain and beyond, novelists, playwrites and even filmmakers have been consciously and subconsciously influenced by the great Spanard for the better.

If there is a flaw in "Fighting Windmills", it attempts to do too much in too short a space. While well-written and organized, its message fragments at times in its long reach through literary history. Easy assimilation of numerous digested novels and their parallelism to Cervantes' classic could prove daunting to those having a scant background in literature.

Yet, all and all, "Fighting Windmills" delivers to the public where most academic books fail. First of all, it is written in language that flows gracefully and is understandable to a lay audience. Secondly, it is highly informative - we learn much at the feet of these masters. Afterwards, one almost feels he or she has been admitted to the ranks of the erudite without having to negotiate the shoals of graduate school. And for budding authors, this book gives a glimpse at the creative-writing techniques of a superior craftsman. Buy it and enjoy the read.

Ken Cascone
Manhattan corporate attorney and author of two novels:
"River of Triumph" and "Island Paradise"

Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen

Average customer rating:

as much about literature as Austen, and a great read
A "must read" for sceptics of the value of literature
Read This Book
Required reading for all who aspire to create.
Not really about Jane Austen, more for Fay Weldon fans

Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen
Fay Weldon
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786706880

Book Description

Inspired by a series of instructive letters written by Austen to a novel-writing niece, Letters to Alice is an epistolary novel in which an important modern writer responds to her niece's complaint that Jane Austen is boring and irrelevant. By turns passionate and ironic, "Aunt Fay" makes Alice think - not only about books and literature, but also life and culture.

Customer Reviews:

as much about literature as Austen, and a great read.......2002-04-08

Written in the form of witty letters to a niece taking an undergraduate English Lit course, this book attempts to bring insight to the work of Jane Austen in particular and to answer those who question the relevance of literature in general. First published in 1984, there is no mention of deconstruction's effect on academic departments, but otherwise the author seems to address most issues pertinent to the reading and writing of fiction, beginning with a wonderful chapter on the lovely metaphoric City of Invention. Elsewhere, Weldon discusses non-literature, Latin, a writer's relatives and friends, feminism, literary truth, critics and invention. Austen is here as well,and the author enlightens with her discussions of Austen's life, times, works, style and death. There are many wonderful passages, and I especially admired the analyses of Austen's work, but I would have liked more of this, and in more detail. At one point the author writes: "[Jane Austen] knows how to end a scene, an episode, a chapter, before beginning the next: when to allow the audience to rest, when to and how to underline a statement, when to mark time with idle paragraphs, allowing what went before to settle, before requiring it to inform what comes next. It is a very modern technique. It requires ... consciousness of audience, and audience reaction." It should be evident from that passage that Weldon is an elegant, insightful and articulate writer, and I would have *loved* to have seen extended examples and analysis of specific Austen passages to illustrate the points made in the preceding excerpt.

Ultimately, I didn't think the niece's subplot worked. Weldon first advises her not to attempt to write a novel, and then advises her to write it, and then advises her about dealing with the publisher when the novel is not only published but very successful. What's Weldon's greater meaning? Why would this undergrad's novel be published and who is reading it? Is it a condemnation or just a device to drive the conceit?

I learned a lot about Jane Austen and about writing, and got some help for the next time someone tells me it's a waste of time to read a novel. Very enjoyable and highly recommended.

A "must read" for sceptics of the value of literature.......2000-09-10

There's a national debate going on in my country concerning the value and relevance of literature in modern society. Students are liberally encouraged by their schools to drop literature from their curriculum in favour of more examination friendly subjects to increase their chances of achieving the maximum aggregate score for their "O" and "A" levels. So, it is not without some irony that I should be reading Fay Weldon's "Letters to Alice On First Reading Jane Austen" as my introduction to this author's works. Well, I was completely blown away by its first chapter/letter entitled "The City of Invention" which alone is worth the price of the book and....says it all. The imagery she uses in distinguishing the different genres in writing as well as the intrinsic or superficial merits of each form of writing is absolutely breathtaking. In it, she hints at why Shakespeare in the "city of invention" is that castle that marks the skyline and a compulsory stop for every tour group making the rounds of the "city". Weldon is eloquent, witty and wickedly funny with her pen. While she never quite hits the high of that first chapter again, she offers some rare and valuable insight into why Austen is read even today. Great literature has the power when read (whether quietly or aloud) to touch the masses by revealing the universality of some home truths or values they espouse. Although Austen fans will be delighted to see their favourite characters come to live in Weldon's world, you don't have to like Jane Austen to enjoy this book. To fellow Singaporeans sceptical about the value of literature in schools, my advice is "read this and you will see how absurd the question really is". No matter if you disagree after reading the book, b'cos you would have had a jolly good time. Great stuff. Truly.

Read This Book.......1999-10-30

I loved this book when it first came out years ago, and it still makes me laugh, as Jane Austin still makes me laugh. Fay Weldon is one of the few writers I know of who has the wit and the irony that we Austin-lovers look for. Letters to Alice is wise and insightful; read it!

Required reading for all who aspire to create........1998-06-12

Borrowed from a friend during my Jane Austen period, this book so delighted and inspired that it is now a dog-eared resident of my nightstand. As a neophyte pro-writer, I often have people ask me how I made the transition from "wanna-be" to "real" writer. This book was an important part of that process.

Not really about Jane Austen, more for Fay Weldon fans.......1998-04-04

I thought someone ought to give fair warning to diehard "Jane Fans" that this book is not so much about Jane Austen as it is about coming of age and the relationship between two different generations. Jane is not its main focus. Borrow it from your local library, if they have it, but I wouldn't recommend buying it.

English Authors Series - Fay Weldon (English Authors Series)

Average customer rating:

An insightful, intelligent and rewarding review of Weldon.

English Authors Series - Fay Weldon (English Authors Series)
Faulks
Manufacturer: Twayne Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805716432

Book Description

Series Editors: Kinley E. Roby, Northeastern University; Herbert Sussman, Northeastern University; Joseph Bartolomeo, University of Massachusetts; George Economou, University of Oklahoma; Arthur F. Kinney, University of Massachusetts

Twayne's United States Authors, English Authors, and World Authors Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works.

Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an author's work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writer's work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading the Authors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives. Each volume features:

A critical, interpretive study and explication of the author's works
A brief biography of the author
An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author
Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography, and an index
A readable style presented in a manageable length

Customer Reviews:

An insightful, intelligent and rewarding review of Weldon........1999-10-26

If you have any interest in Wewldon, then Ms Faulks' book is a must for your collection. This is a stirring, delightful review of Weldon. Faulks clearly loves her subject matter and her writing shows a real sensitivity to the nuances--and pleasures--of Weldon's prose. I personally have little time for literary criticism and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this when it was given to me for my birthday.

Average customer rating:

It's the same story! Why isn't it as good?
Great New Perspective
Brilliant Conclusion of an Arthurian Trilogy!
fresh and colorful interpretation of the Arthurian mythos

Le Morte D'Avalon (Arthurian Novel)
J. Robert King
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Arthurian | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Historical | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0765305941

Book Description

n Mad Merlin, King created an epic fantasy that integrated the pagan and Christian mythos of Camelot in the tradition of Joseph Campbell's acclaimed works on religion and myth. In Lancelot du Lethe, he told the story of the most famous knight of King Arthur's Round Table, exploring how Lancelot and Guinevere were ill fated due to blood ties with the Fey. Now comes Le Morte d'Avalon, Morgan Le Fey's story. Part female Hamlet, part mystical Lady Macbeth, an Arthurian Joan of Arc, her position in society and the regal hierarchy place her in direct opposition to all that Arthur must accomplish. She is the vengeful heroine unanticipated in Merlin's mad scheme, and indeed may be the savior of all womankind. Once again Camelot is laid to risk alongside the fate of all the mortal realm.

Customer Reviews:

It's the same story! Why isn't it as good?.......2003-12-11

J. Robert King has done some magical things to the King Arthur mythos. Now, King continues his Arthurian story, in Le Morte D'Avalon by giving us the conflict between nature and warfare. This time, having told the story of Merlin and Lancelot, King gives us the story of Morgan Le Fay. Does King pull off a third great book? While it's interesting, it's nowhere near the level of the first two. A lackluster ending makes it even worse.

As is common knowledge to anybody even semi-familiar with the Arthurian legends, Morgan is Arthur's half-sister who bears a son with him, Mordred. King expands on this, making Morgan become an incarnation of Gaea, the earth-goddess. Morgan foresees that her half-brother will bring nothing but strife to the land, and that he must be destroyed before he can do that. Camelot, rather than being the paradise portrayed in the legends, will instead be the catalyst for some of the darkest times in history. Ever since the fall of Gaea, men have subjugated women and brought nothing but violence and war to the land that was once green and lush. She is determined to bring it back, starting her own earth religion that works toward this end.

As she continues her machinations against Arthur, she happens upon Lancelot, who she discovers is the "perfect consort" of a goddess like she is becoming. She is determined to win him to her side, and she becomes increasingly jealous when she finds out about Lancelot's fascination with Guinevere. This jealousy colours many of her interactions with both of them (as well as Arthur) for the rest of the book. It also causes her to make decisions she wouldn't normally make, jeopardizing her plans. Will she achieve the paradise on Earth that is her goal? Or will the representatives of Christianity and the Faerie folk defeat her?

While the concept of this book is intriguing, I thought the execution was flawed. This is not so much because of how King presented the whole scenario, but because many of the events are just rehashes of what he put in the first two books, just told from a different side. At times, this works (such as Morgan's first attempt at winning Lancelot, when she and her two disciples try to woo him into their lair), but at others it really becomes boring. The ending sequence in particular (No spoilers) is tedious, with Morgan mainly observing events that happened in the previous books. She provides some commentary, but she's not involved. The ending jumps from event to event with no real continuity. Whole sections of the previous books are discussed in a few pages and then the book just limps into nothingness.

While I'm discussing the ending, there is a really nice coda that really ties the series together. I thought that Lancelot du Lethe was the ending, and that it really worked well that way too. Adding Morgan to the mix, it brings an even more satisfying conclusion, as character arcs are wrapped up and the people involved move on with their lives/afterlives. I could have done without the very last pages, though, where King brings a modern-day spin to the gender issues that he's explored throughout the book, though. They seemed trite and unnecessary.

This brings me to the main fault of the book, in my opinion. The gender politics are very heavy-handed in this one. First, the main struggle is between the "male" religion of Christianity and the "female" religion that Morgan sets up (and becomes the embodiment of). Thus, most of the men in the book are either would-be attackers or emasculated men, while most of the women characters are noble and honorable. Some of this may be because of the viewpoint we get (it's all Morgan's), so the shading may be understandable. Arthur and Lancelot are the only two men who don't fall into this trap. Arthur is pretty much a non-character, being the focal point of Morgan's schemes but not interacting with her much. Lancelot is the "perfect consort" so must appear like a beacon of nobility. King does turn this whole idea on its head later in the book, demonstrating that the world still needs what men bring to it, and that a world dominated by a Gaea-like paradise would be, though very green, very cold and sterile. It's a nice contrast, but it's hurt by the fact that there are no sympathetic male characters in the first part of the book. It all appears to be a bunch of male-bashing, and twisting it at the end doesn't help the beginning.

Morgan herself is well done (until she becomes just an observer, at least, when she becomes boring). She walks the fine line between the villainess that we're all familiar with and a sympathetic character. King doesn't do as good of a job with any other characters, however. Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot are based on their portrayal in the other two books, but unfortunately you only get that if you've actually read them. Taken alone, they are woefully underdone. None of the other characters are remarkable in the slightest. King does a decent job with the writing as well, though his prose doesn't rise to the level that he reached in the first two books.

While, in hindsight, a book about Morgan is almost necessary to complete the series he has started, Le Morte D'Avalon almost feels written as an afterthought. It doesn't read anything like the first two and it seems to be more of a rehash of events than is absolutely necessary. If you've liked the first two, this is a valuable conclusion to the series. But I'd buy it in paperback at least, if not waiting for the library.

David Roy

Great New Perspective.......2003-10-10

Having not yet read the first two of King's Arthurian tales, I stumbled across Le Morte D'Avalon quite by accident. What a treat. It was a fast read which kept me turning pages eager to see what the next twist in the story would be. King introduced some characters to the tale that I had not had the pleasure of meeting in other Arthurian works - mainly Morgan's other children. He also did a fantastic job of evolving the story as Morgan's life from a six-year old with mysterious visions evolved into her reputation as a witch, a priestess and ultimately a goddess. Unlike the supportive loving sister of Mists of Avalon - unaware of her incestuous relationship with Arthur....Morgan in this book is cunning yet caring in an entirely new way. Her feelings for Arthur also mature as she and her powers mature. I don't normally go in for stories with lots of fire and dragons and shape changing, but King did it all very masterfully and mystically without being too hokey about it.

If you like Arthurian tales - give it a whirl...I was very pleasantly surprised!!!

Brilliant Conclusion of an Arthurian Trilogy!.......2003-09-19

This is the third and final book of J. Robert King's Arthurian trilogy. Moran le Fey is showcased in this novel. And what a novel it is! We follow Morgan from her innocent childhood, cut short by Uther Pendragon's lust for her mother Igraine, to her obsession with the goddess Gaga whom she is determined to bring back to life in Britain.

Arthur, unfortunately, is her sworn enemy, even though he never realizes it, of all she reveres. Arthur is the embodiment of destruction for Britain because he will be a bringer of constant war. Morgan wants to bring back the old ways of Gaea and therefore beauty and peace to the land and its people. She also intends to empower women and give them something they aren't familiar with, power and control over the men in their lives.

A wild exciting ride through Morgan's visions of what Britain and eventually the world should be is riveting and imaginative. This book is fairly reminiscent of "The Mists of Avalon" by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley. This story contains much more edge of your seat reading with immense magic, the visions of Morgan and her quest to destroy Camelot before it destroys Britain and the world.

All three novels in this trilogy stand alone, however, read them all to experience the wonder that is author, J. Robert King!

fresh and colorful interpretation of the Arthurian mythos.......2003-09-16

Her age of innocence lasted until she was eight years old. It was then her mother caught King Uther's eye and her father, Duke Gorlois went to war with him. In a vision Morgan sees his death but she finds her father in her mother's bed the next day. Only she can see that it isn't her father at all but Uther, wearing a magical illusion to fool the duchess. A child is born of that woman and Morgan's mother marries Uther and gives birth to Arthur, the once and future king.

After Uther dies, the queen makes an alliance with King Mark, making Tintagel a part of his kingdom. Sick of being under the yoke of men, Morgan leaves her home. She learns to travel the ley lines and work the earth magic of the goddess Gaea. She becomes a queen in her own right, always plotting to destroy Arthur and his kingdom of Camelot because like all men he seeks to oppress women while she seeks to liberate them.

Only a talented storyteller like J. Robert can make a woman like Morgan Le Fey sympathetic and understandable. The world of Camelot is touched by magic and Guinevere and Lancelot are creatures of fey while the worshippers of Gaea grow in numbers until they are actually a viable threat to the Christian religion. LE MORTE D'AVALON is a fresh and colorful interpretation of the Arthurian mythos reading like a ballad sung by troubadours of yesteryear.

Book Description

First published in serial form in the Graphic (1881-2), Marion Fay is half tragedy, half romantic burlesque, and one of Trollope's most detailed scrutinies of the workings of the English class system. Based on the first three-volume edition of 1882, the novel contrasts two love affairs, each
involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Trollope vividly evokes the dull working lives, plain homes, blank streets, and limited horizons of the dwellers in Paradise Row, using them as an ironic choric commentary on the unattainable world of rank, wealth, and freedom, symbolized by life in the great
country houses.

Customer Reviews:

One of Trollope's best love stories.......2000-12-13

It's quite strange that this book, of all Trollope, is so hard to find. Reviewers didn't like it when it was originally published in the late 1800s, and it never shook its reputation as ultra-tedious. This mystifies me. The melodrama between politically radical Lord Jack Hampton and Marion Fay, a non-aristocratic young Quaker woman who's more of a lady than several of the "ladies" in the book, is flirtatious, accessible and fun (Hampton repeatedly teases Marion that he fell for her when she "poked his fire," i.e. tended his fireplace with a poker--a bolder play with innuendo than Trollope usually engages in). It then turns passionate when Marion won't marry Jack because of a secret trouble involving life-threatening illness. T. uses the situation to examine with great depth and sensitivity the desire to consummate the spiritual union of two souls via marriage. This is the most careful look at what marriage means in T.'s ideal world that I have read in his work yet. He makes it exciting and suspenseful, since we're waiting to see if Marion will really get to poke Jack's fire--or if an unthinkable separation will occur. As in all T., there is a hilarious cast of characters who toe the line that separates the comically pathetic from the dangerously antisocial--for example, will Jack's archetypical evil stepmom just grumble her way through life, or will she scheme to kill Jack? The multiple marriage and family plots are very well integrated, unlike in some other T. novels.

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